Midway through 2010, 20 department heads at universities in Munich teamed up to develop the Mute, a 20-hp electric microcar. It looks relatively unspectacular—but it is indeed small, and lightweight, too. At 880 pounds without its battery, the Mute can be classified as a quad bike, not a car.

When the Mute was first created, the hope was that the concept would be picked up by a manufacturer who would then develop the thing for series production. That plan has taken a large step in the right direction. BMW has taken the lead on the project, which receives funding through a $14 million government subsidy. Daimler and suppliers Autoliv, Coninental, and Siemens are on board as well.

Now called Visio.M, the small vehicle would compete head-to-head with other tiny EVs, such as the Renault Twizy, the Audi Urban Concept, the Volkswagen NILS, and the Opel RakE. The new concept looks substantial, but also downright conservative in comparison with the other vehicles mentioned here. BMW’s design chief Adrian van Hooydonk tells us that he hasn’t been involved in the styling of the Visio.M yet, but that he is looking forward to the challenge. There is no connection between the Visio.M and BMW’s much larger upcoming i3.